I see I need to make a long and boring response. In post #14, I responded to a Good Friend's comments. Those comments, similar to your's, are right on target. I mentioned the recent history of presidents committing crime while in office. My hopes when posting on DU is to start conversations on topics like this, where others move it forward.
Now, Nixon resigned before being impeached by the House, and convicted by the Senate. And, of course, Ford pardoned him. In today's context, Nixon, Reagan-Bush, and bush-Cheney would be safe because of the USSC ruling. But the felon's case is different: he was twice impeached, with two not-guilty decisions by the Senate. Had they convicted him in the Senate, he could have been prevented from holding public office again.
So we know that Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution provides for the houses of Congress to deal with criminal presidents. So that isn't the problem. That raises the question of why that system does not work? It's easy and accurate to blame republican party in Congress. Or some of the federal judges, including the majority on the USSC. As I noted last week, the first factor that is easily identified in the decay of empire is government corruption. And we can trace the damage to the workings of the government -- all three federal branches -- back to the Nixon era, at an increasing pace.
The Constitution provides for self-correcting corruption in government in more ways than Article 2, Section 4. It allows citizens to vote out compromised or corrupt politicians. Obviously, it is a slow process. But the biggest problem is the quality of men and women the public puts in office. Do you remember quotes about "government" from Chief Waterman and Rubin that I've posted on DU? The other quote from Rubin I'll look for tomorrow has to do with how to change government, we must change ourselves. I note that both Malcolm said much the same. I think that it is worth considering, as individuals and groups.
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